International Wine of the Month Club – Collectors Series Review

Summary Review:
With featured selections valued between $30-60 a bottle, the Collectors Series from MonthlyClubs.com is perfect for the wine collector or wine aficionado. Choose from either two bottles of red or a bottle of red and a bottle of white. The Cellars Notes newsletter will describe the wineries and growing regions plus give tasting notes, suggested food pairings, recipes, and more.

Full Review:
MonthlyClubs.com has six of different monthly clubs that are great for gifts: Wine, Beer, Cigars, Cheese, Chocolates and Flowers.

With all of these available choices can think of MonthlyClubs.com as a “one stop shop” for your “of the month club” gifts. Once you’ve decided that a monthly club is the type of gift you want to give to one person (or many people), then you can do all of your shopping with one company.

Since our focus is exclusively on Wine of the Month clubs, we won’t discuss their other clubs, beyond the fact that you know they’re available, all under one roof.

The “wine of the month club” from MonthlyClubs.com is called the “International Wine of the Month Club”. It’s quite simple and straight forward: Their wine of the month club delivers wines from all around the globe.

The International Wine of the Month Club has 3 different levels from which to choose, based on price (lowest to highest): Premier Series, Masters Series, and Collectors Series.

I like this type of simplicity. It really makes gift giving very easy.

If your budget allows and you know the recipient is a wine lover, send the best: Give them the Collectors Series. It’s priced at $70 plus $13 shipping. Thus the bottles are high-end wines, at roughly $35 each. (If you included shipping in your “per bottle calculations”, then the price per bottle would be $41.50 each.)

If finances are a factor, then you can step down to their “mid level” product, the Masters Series, which combines a bottle from the Collectors Series and one bottle from the Premier Series.

And, if you want to give a great gift of wine at the lowest possible price, then you’d select their Premier Series.

These are all great gifts. A wine love will love any of these choices. So, don’t think the price-based distinction between these products will determine the satisfaction level of the recipient. Choose the gift that fits your budget and matches with the “pallette sophistication” of the recipient.

In these shipments, you receive ultra premium, super-high-quality, collectable wine. These are wines that are the most expensive to make, created from the most mature and time-tested grape vines and have limited production.

All of these factors make these wines delicious to drink now, or “cellarable”, allowing them to age and develop over years.

Thus, the person receiving the gift of this Collectors Series Wine Club will be thrilled by these wines — and your generosity!

The Price:
As this is their high-end product, this club comes at a relatively high price. (Relative to their other options.) The Collectors Series is $70 plus shipping (always $13 for shipping). Compare this to their mid-level Master’s Series at $49 plus shipping and their introductory level, the Premier Series at $29 plus shipping.

Compared to other clubs offering similar wine, this $70 plus shipping price point is right in line with others.

The Wine
I love how the International Wine of the Month Club shows you exactly what bottles were delivered in prior months’ deliveries. They’re not hiding anything and are proud to show off the selections they’ve provided to their customers over the years. (Plus, it gives you the security to know that you’re going to be sending wines you can be proud to give as a gift.)

In my shipment I received two reds. (You can choose Red and White, a mixed delivery, or all Red Wines. Luckily, MonthlyClubs.com knows I’m a Red Wine lover and sent me the all red choice!) There was a blend from South Africa and a Cabernet from Napa. Both bottles look like a million bucks and reading the tasting notes got me salivating. I honestly don’t how long I’ll let these wines mature before my will power weakens to such a degree that I can’t hold back and open one up.

The packaging:
The wine was delivered in a “normal” wine shipping box, with standard cardboard inserts. It’s a clean presentation that is as “eco friendly” as you can get. (No styrofoam)

The tasting notes are simple and straight forward. You get what you need to learn about the wines and the wine maker on a couple sheets of paper. They’ll also include some food paring suggestions and you’ll also see some additional material for learning more about their other “of the month clubs”.

The summary:
This is a great club for gifting when you want a “one stop shop” for your “of the month club” purchases. It’s also a great premium club on its own.